Promise
by Malluchan
Summary: Ryuga has been gone for eight months. All that remains of him is a promise. Still, Kenta feels traces of him clinging to himself. Is it all a delusion? Or is Ryuga up there somewhere, watching over them, wanting to come back home?
1. Draco's Prison

*trips over self* whooaaa, hello, guys! Well I wasn't expecting to see YOU there at all. Who am I kidding? I'm on FFN and people are gonna read this. Anyway. It's me, Bean, and I have something to tell you before I get smacked upside the head by Ryuga, so please bear with me.

I am in an angsty mood. There is about to be a WHOOLLLLE lotta angst in this story here. I have no idea if it'll go further than a one-shot, or if it's just the Benadryl in my system washing over me, but there WILL be death and there WILL be sadness and YES, it IS about Ryuga, so if that's what you were hoping for when you read the title and the description - although I don't know what it's gonna be yet - You've come to the right place.

Enjoy the story, don't be bad little worms, and peace out! *Ryuga comes in with a hammer* NO! NO, RYUGA, I SAID **PEACE OUT! ** *crashing sounds ensue* Whelp, there goes the furniture...

* * *

_Fires blaze in the eyes of men. Around him, shouts ring out. Kenta pays no attention to the dark aura at his back; his eyes are trained on the boy he followed for the past six months, doggedly and certainly, and now on the brink of death._

_In his eyes there is nothing but true soul and a promise. _

_And then he's gone, and the promise is all that remains._

The same dream, every night.

For eight entire months, it's haunted him. On past the date of his 13th birthday, one he'd always dreamed Ryuga would be there to witness. Because once the battle was over - once things were right with the world again - the synergy that encompassed them during their time in the wild could never dissolve; no, that was a thing that nothing could ravish.

Nothing but death.

And death has, indeed, been about some ravishing.

His eyes trace the familiar patterns etched into the plaster above his head. Once there were stars there, marking out constellations, but faith lost doesn't return so easily - when Ryuga left him, he ripped them off savagely with tears burning in his eyes.

Is this dream, every single night - is it Ryuga? Surely it can't come from beyond the grave. Nobody knows what lies beyond it, but Kenta is certain that death holds a firm and constant barrier against communication. Surely, then, it can't be that. It must be Kenta himself. Still grieving, after all this time.

* * *

Tsubasa's eyes take in the courtyard beneath him. So many sleepless nights. So much heartache. Trauma. Eagle feels it too.

He perches on the back of the chair near Tsubasa's bed, not his perfect and streamlined figure, but a harried and restless version of himself. His feather stick up at odd angles around the bare patches. He's been preening. When birds preen too much, they lose feathers. Each one of his lost feathers is in a plastic bag in Tsubasa's suitcase.

With a sigh, he slumps down against the windowsill. India is just so _hot__. _ And he doesn't know what Ryo wants him to find at all. His fingers strain at his collar until several buttons pop loose, allowing him to breathe once more. He fumbles with the air conditioner box beneath the windowsill. Why do they always have these at hotels? Why never the good, circulating systems? He supposes for so cheap they can't afford much more.

As he turns away from the window, a bright flash catches in the corner of his eye. His face snaps back to the starry sky; the night is clear. Slowly, Tsubasa's tired eyes come into focus, making out the familiar patterns and shapes that compose the constellations. They're burning bright tonight, especially...

That one. Draco. Ryuga's.

Is it all a coincidence? He is starting to think not. Every night, those stars wink at him and bring his attention to him - especially on nights like this.

Conceivably, it could be another spirit, watching out for him from Draco's nest of stars. But Occam's Razor tells him that Ryuga is watching over him. Trying to tell him something.

"What do you need from me?" he whispers softly to the sky. The stars do not answer.

As he curls on the bed once more, futilely chasing sleep, a song seems to float into his ears. Ask him later, and he will not be able to tell you the tune; but it is soft and melodious. The hot air oppressing his skin is seemingly lifted away by the notes.

The tune continues; the stars outside his window grow brighter as the moon sinks; and sleep finds him at last.

* * *

_The ones he loved_

The words still sit alien in his mind.

_The ones he...loved_

They just don't fit with the way he sees the world below him.

_The ones he...loved?_

They still don't seem to justify what he felt, back then, when things were so much harder with the weight of their trust on his shoulders, yet he carried it with pride.

_The ones I loved._

_I loved them._

From Draco's shining nest, he sees the world beneath him turning, through their eyes - the eyes of the ones he loved. He can't return, no matter how hard he tries. However this twisted system got into place, he hates it. All he can see is the misery of the people who miss him.

He just wanted to die in peace.

No, instead, he saw Kenta through Tsubasa's eyes as the boy collapsed on the sidewalk, clawing at the cement. As a tortured scream ripped from his throat to the sky.

He felt Tsubasa's feet pound towards the boy, and felt his anxiety. He heard it thundering in his ears as Kenta screamed his name to the un-sympathising clouds that passed above.

Screamed for him.

He never thought a child would miss him so much, and sometimes he regrets leaving. But other times, alone, when all of their eyes are closed and the sky around him is silent, he knows he would regret it much more if he hadn't chosen to leave this promise with Kenta.

So he does what he can.

He can feel the grief he's causing. He never knew Tsubasa well, but he was sort of a friend in rivalry. He was always there. He regrets that they couldn't have known each other better, that he himself couldn't have been less reclusive. But emotional ties didn't seem relevant to him at the time.

So he does what he can.

He sends through the stars, _something_, down into the night through the skies of India, and he doesn't know why they still think of him, or if Tsubasa can hear him, but he does what he can.


	2. Kenta's Question

Yup, apparently it's goin' further than a one-shot, guys. Hel-lo, new story...Why do I keep doing this to myself?

Btw, I locked myself up in the bedroom because Ryuga won't put that hammer down. Wish me luck ;P

* * *

_Lost_

His eyes open from Draco's gentle song, startled awake by lights before him.

_It's all just lost_

Daytime swarms angrily, and the smell of curry hits him like a tidal wave.

_Your life is so lost_

Tsubasa is awake.

* * *

Tsubasa's leather-clad feet hit the cobblestones, slap, slap, all around the little market square. All of these little unregistered businesses, independent, technically unemployed because they aren't booked anywhere. No websites, no promotion, no existence other than the witness of a thousand eyes around them, and then they're forgotten. He is thinking like a businessman again, he chides himself.

Eagle is clutching his shoulder fiercely.

Eagle does not fly anymore.

Children run around him, playing in the street. They see the bird perched on his shoulder. They see the missing patches where the feathers should be. "Bald eagle!" they laugh.

Tsubasa glares at them and steps away. They shrink beneath his intense gaze. He doesn't need this right now. Nobody insults his Eagle.

He shuts his eyes for a moment and breathes in deeply the scent of the marketplace around him: fresh-baked roti, hot curry, steaming rice, and the dust of the place. But before he opens his eyes, something flashes at him.

He looks out at the market, brow furrowed - what was it? The sun? He shuts his eyes again. This time he sees it. An afterimage. Like after you stare at a lamp for too long, and the light glares at you even with your eyes closed. It's Draco.

Tsubasa is certain now. Someone is trying to tell him something. The weight on his shoulder dips towards the right; Eagle smells food and is hungry. He buys breakfast for both of them.

* * *

_Fires blaze in the eyes of men. Spirit soars around them. L-Drago soars towards him._

_He feels not the dark aura at his back, nor the held breaths of the bladers around them. His eyes are on the one he followed, doggedly and certainly, now on the brink of death._

_Can something this good really be gone?_

The same dream, every night.

_Brother_

If anyone was going to be his brother, he would've thought it would be Gingka. But Ryuga had reached out to him. He had seen a need for companionship, and he had taken it. He had seen that Gingka needed help, and thought only of it, but soon came to realise that really, Ryuga was the one who needed him.

Even if he would never admit it.

A painful hope still clings to Kenta, that maybe it is Ryuga sending him these messages. If such communication could not come from beyond the grave, then Ryuga isn't dead. He knows it is a wild and hurtful logic - that if he spends his whole life clinging on to this, he'll reach the end broken and betrayed that Ryuga has never come back for him. But if he lets go of it, he accepts that there is nothing more to look for.

Kenta's cell phone sits on his gloved palm. Light blinks on its fragile screen, _brring, brring._ He had called Tsubasa, but had hung up right away. He didn't have the courage to say what he wanted. Now Tsubasa is calling him back.

Kenta steels himself, and then answers.

"Tsubasa?"

"Kenta", says Tsubasa. "What did you need?" His breathing is fast, as if he is running from danger.

"Are you busy?"

"No", he laughs breathlessly, "Just taking a morning run. Is everything OK? You've called me about 5 times this morning."

"Yeah, actually, I...I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure."

"Are you going to be passing by Mist Mountain by any chance? I mean, I know it's far, but I had a question for Dunamis, and you know, he doesn't really have a phone..."

"No, Kenta", says Tsubasa, a bit miffed by the question. "I'm in India. Africa's a long flight. I don't have time. I thought you would know that."

"Sorry. Sorry. I'll ask somebody else."

"Just out of curiosity, what's bothering you?"

"Well...I was...it's nothing, really. Bye."

"Wait, Kenta." Tsubasa's voice is firm, insistent. A voice Kenta has no choice but to listen to. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"Um...is it really, really crazy that I think Ryuga's speaking to me sometimes?...From somewhere?" Kenta holds his breath and squeezes his eyes shut. He doesn't want Tsubasa to laugh at him.

Silence on the other end.

At last, he say, "No. No, Kenta, I don't think it's crazy, just...improbable. You may be wishing so hard that it's seeming real to you. Ryuga's gone", he adds, treading lightly.

"I know. I...I know that. I shouldn't've bothered you. I'm sorry."

"If you're really worried about it, we can get word to Dunamis somehow", Tsubasa tries. "We're the WBBA. We have connections. And maybe he can figure this all out, you know, being more understanding of death and such."

"Really?"

"Maybe. I - wait a second, sorry, Eagle's - " there is a clatter, and the line goes dead. Kenta pulls the phone away from his ear and squints at it quizzically. When he tries to call Tsubasa back, there is no response.

* * *

Tsubasa glares at his bird and pops him on the beak. "What is your problem lately?" He scoops up his earbuds. Eagle chewed the cord in half with his sharp beak and then knocked his phone out of his hands. There's a big crack down the screen. Tsubasa glares at the bird.

The outbursts. The plucking. It seems to happen in relation with this whole tragedy. After Ryuga disappeared, Eagle wouldn't sleep. Last night, all through whatever song drifted down, he shifted on the chair and squawked all night. And now this.


	3. Nanto's Promise

_Fires blaze_

_Spirits roar_

_A flare of light, and the one he loved is on the brink of death, and yet holds fast with a promise_

_And the promise is all that's left._

The same dream, every night.

* * *

_When can I go back home?_

His eyes turn to the stars around him, peaceful and ringing softly. They give him no answer. He squints at them, hoping for a pattern, a sign, anything, until his head is swimming. They yield nothing in return.

_Please._

One turns to him, little and bright, listening.

_Sagittarius?_

It seems to wink at him. Yes, it is a star from Sagittarius's sign. Nanto, the little star. It forms the apex between Ascella, Kaus Media, Kaus Borealis, and Nunki. Nanto is the peacemaker, and the only star other than Kaus Media who is an apex between four. Nanto is impatient. She wants to help.

_Nanto_

Nanto flashes again.

_Will you help me?_

Nanto's joyful song rings loud in his ears. It is a promise.

Out of all the galaxy, only Nanto hears him. She reminds him of Kenta. And for the first time, the grief breaks forth. He hears a wretched cry torn from his throat, and Nanto darts around him soothingly. She is the peacemaker, after all.

* * *

Kenta is awakened by bright green flashes outside his window. The first thing that comes to his boyish mind is a UFO. The second thing is star fragments. He races to the windowpane and stares out.

_Flash, Flash, Flash_

A sound like sirens wailing folds itself around him. He runs downstairs to wake Madoka. "Madoka! Do you hear that!?"

She looks up groggily. "I don't hear anything, Kenta."

Is he the only one who can hear it? "Look out the window!"

They look out. Draco is still flashing, in a sequence, from Alpha to Psi. _Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Delta-Epsilon-Zeta-Iota-Lambda-Mu-Nu-Xi-Sigma-Psi._

Faster, now. _Thuban-Rastaban-Eltanin-Altais-Tyl-KaouPih-Edasich-Giauzar-Arrakis-Kuma-Grumium-Alsafi-Dziban._

Madoka murmurs their names as they flash, frantically transcribing an entry into her father's astronomy journal. "This is highly irregular behaviour", she says aloud, not to Kenta, but to herself.

All 13 flash in unison suddenly. _Flash-flash-flash_

_Flash_

_Flash_

_Flash_

_Flash-flash-flash_

And then Thuban goes dark.

* * *

He had raced out onto the city streets with the others. Eagle is screaming his head off high above them, trying to get away from the noise. Draco is flashing a signal to earth, from Alpha to Psi, head to tail.

All the stars begin to flash in unison, and the crowd goes crazy, crashing into each other. Indian people are very superstitious. A young girl turns and tries to run, but ends up smacking her head against the pavement and passing out. Tsubasa crouches beside her, protecting her from the stampeding crowd, all the while keeping an eye on the sky above him.

Draco begins to flash a pattern, Thuban in sync with Dziban. Morse code? Tsubasa doesn't know if the stars know Morse code. But his scientific mind orders them into letters anyway.

_S_

_O_

_S_

SOS. A cry for help.

"The spirit crying", moans the girl thickly. She is awake. Tsubasa tells her to keep still. He pulls the penlight from his keychain and shines it into her eyes. She doesn't have a concussion, but there's a large scratch on her forehead where she hit the cobblestones.

"Where do you live? We need to get you home."

"Not far", she murmurs. He helps her up, and she directs him, thanking him endlessly. They watch from the window of her shop as the flashing continues and Tsubasa holds a cold compress to her head, and then the stars are still.

She gasps and pulls away from him as suddenly, Thuban goes dark, leaving an empty space in the sky like the space between Eagle's loose feathers. Shortly afterwards, Rastaban disappears from the night sky as well. Shouts are heard outside. Women and children fall to their knees; men scramble for weapons. The girl cries out.

All of them disappear one by one, even Dziban. Hollow ringing suddenly covers the square; one star in the sky is shining almost as brightly as the sun. It's not a part of Draco. Nanto, the corner star in Sagittarius's constellation.

Then everything goes dark again, the stars sitting quietly where they always used to. Even Draco is there. Tsubasa wonders if he has imagined it all.

* * *

_Quiet, quiet, quiet!_

The screaming is all around him as Draco goes dark, commanding him to stop crying. It rises to an alarmingly angry crescendo and then stops. Ryuga can see Nanto humming away, calming Thuban and Edasich and all the angry stars.

Eltanin and Arrakis glare at him, the snake and the dancer paying attention to him for once. Eltanin hisses, and an ominous allegretto comes from Arrakis. Then they turn back to their starry business and leave him be.

_Nanto?_

Nanto hears him. Nanto looks up.

_I'm sorry_

Nanto rings sweetly. She forgives him.

* * *

When Tsubasa wakes, it is to dusty sunlight streaming in past the silk draping the window. The girl is asleep. He didn't know he'd stayed here the entire night. Embarrassed, he stands, ready to leave, but she wakes as well.

"Thank you help me last night", she says shyly, her accent thick.

"It was nothing. I should go", he tells her.

"No. You eat", she insists, hurrying into her kitchen. Well, she's up and running, which means she should be fine. That, at least, is good. But what to make of Draco's irregular behaviour last night?

After a moment, Tsubasa follows the girl, but she has disappeared. He finds himself in a room full of dazzlingly painted fabric, seeming to depict the milky way galaxy. Where there aren't paintings, there are shelves and tables bearing random objects. Where has he ended up?

She emerges from a side door and sets two plates on one of the tables. As they eat, she explains that her name is Alo. From what he can understand, she is a mystic of sorts. She reminds him almost of Dunamis.

"There is no way I can repay you", she tells him. "You have saved my life."

It was nothing of the sort. But he smiles, and leaves her to her ways.

"Alo, I do have one thing you can help me with", he says. "Can somebody who's dead speak through their star constellation? Like if they owned one of these?" He shows her his beyblade. Alo regards it reverently.

"You have a star disc", she says in awe. She cannot take her eyes off of it. He puts it away, and she looks disappointed.

"I have a friend who died. His constellation was Draco. I think he may have been speaking to somebody last night when Draco was flashing."

Understanding dawns in Alo's eyes. "Ajagara", she says. "Sky dragon. He was speaking."

"Yeah, I mean, yes. Do you think that could have been him? My friend?"

Alo turns excitedly to a table and starts sifting through the many bottles gathered there. "Many spirits go away. Strong one stays in its own way. They go to the stars because their life not letting go. And he speak."

"So he could still return? Or is he basically...dead? Or asleep?"

"Dead, no. Asleep, yes. Return...maybe. Spirit cannot come back on his own."

Excitement bubbled up in him and he fumbled for his cell phone. Despite the large crack in its screen, it still functioned. Eagle squawked at him angrily from the window.

"You have sick bird", Alo informed him, holding up a bottle and peering through it, then setting it down. "Can fix him for you, if you like."

"You don't have to do that", he says, shaking the phone irritably. It's out of battery.

"Alo owe you." She approaches Eagle cautiously. He nips at her, and suddenly she slices her hand down hard against his beak. Eagle loses his balance and flops over onto the carpet. Alo rolls him over on his back.

At first Eagle struggles, but Alo holds him firmly. She begins to hum softly. After the fifth note, Eagle is still. She removes her hands and he lies silently on his back on the carpet.

"He worry for Ajagara", she informed Tsubasa. "Eagle have connection with the heavens. He think Ajagara wants to hurt him. Very old bird", she notes, stretching out Eagle's wing.

"Yeah, I guess...but listen. Alo. Can we bring him back? My friend? I think he's calling for help."

"Maybe not can. Can try. Nanto helping too", says Alo, pointing at Sagittarius's corner star on the wall. "She bring Ajagara back last night when the dark was there."

"How would we do it?"

"We speak to Ajagara. When he take pity on us, he let the boy go. Been done before", she shrugs. "You know Nanto holder? The one who have the star disc?"

"You mean someone whose constellation is Sagittarius?"

"Yes, whatever you said", she says impatiently.

Tsubasa nods. "He was a friend of the boy who died. He's been missing him."

"So dragon holder still have too many ties on earth." Alo nods understandingly. "You can talk to this Nanto girl? On your phone?" she points to the cell phone in his hand.

"Yes. But he's a boy." Can they really do it?

Alo smiles. "Then we all set."

* * *

Nanto's chirping wakes him.

_Song, song_

He sees her smiling at him in her starry way.

_What is it, Nanto?_

Nanto rings joyously and swims circles around him, leading his eyes to where Tsubasa's view of the world is displayed. Nanto darts across the surface of the image, rippling it like a pond.

The girl in the image has a lavender aura about her. Help is on the way.


End file.
